Tech Article ...by Carlo Catalanotto of CC Racing Engines
Engine maintenance advice and suggestions by renowned engine builder Carlo Catalanotto of CC Racing Engines!
General Maintenance Tips for Zenoah/Quickdraw/J&G Engines
After Each day:
If you have experienced no trouble at your pond or lake and have not flipped, dunked or stalled your boat, maintenance is very easy. I would recommend spraying a couple of medium doses of WD40 into the spark plug hole and thru your carb while holding the throttle at wide open position. While you have the plug out of the engine make sure that you ground the plug wire to a metal part of the engine. You do not want a spark to occur while you are spinning your engine over as you may have gas or other chemicals in the hull that could catch fire. After grounding the plug wire just spin the engine over a few times to get the WD40 thru the engine as it will keep your bearings and crank lubricated. Re-install plug and you are ready for your next day of running.
End of year maintenance:
If you are going to be putting your boat up for an extended period of time because of cold weather or other reasons here are the steps I would recommend. Drain all of the fuel from your tank. Start the engine and it should only run for a few seconds until it runs the carb out of fuel. Make sure not to run the engine too long without sufficient cooling. Take your water line or lines off of the water pickup or rudder and spray WD40 using the straw supplied thru the lines until the liquid WD40 exits thru your water outlets. Remove your spark plug and pour a couple ounces marvel mystery oil in the plug hole and thru the carb while holding it in wide open position. While you have the plug out of the engine make sure that you ground the plug wire to a metal part of the engine. Pull the engine over several times to make sure that the oil gets into the crankcase to coat the bearings and crankshaft. Spray the entire outside of engine with WD40, it will keep everything from corroding and help to keep it looking new. When you are ready to run it again all you will need to do is remove the plug, ground the wire and spray WD40 into the plug hole and the carb at wide open throttle and spin it over 5 to 10 hard pulls to get most of the oil out of the engine. Re-install plug start as you normally do and it will smoke a lot more then normal until you clear all of the oil out of the engine. Put a new plug in and you are ready for another season.
After Flip, Dunk, Stall or Water ingestion:
Remove spark plug and inspect it for any cracks in the porcelain. If after inspection it looks fine dry it and put aside. While you have the plug out of the engine make sure that you ground the plug wire to a metal part of the engine. Turn boat upside down with pipe facing the ground and throttle at wide open position and give it about 8 to 10 hard pulls to get water out of engine and tuned pipe. Turn boat over and place finger over plug hole with light pressure with throttle in wide open position and give it about 5 to 10 hard pulls as this will get most of the water left in the crankcase out. Check to make sure that there is no water in your fuel tank or fuel lines drain and refill accordingly. Re-install plug but do not tighten. Screw it down with your fingers until it bottoms out lightly. Start engine as normally and give it a few crisp revs to clear out water shut engine off then tighten plug. I would make sure to make a few hard laps at wide open throttle before putting the boat up for the day as this will assure you have cleaned any excess water out of the engine. If this process has not worked and your engine is still very hard to start or hard to pull over you might have internal damage that will need to be repaired. I would recommend sending it to a professional to inspect and repair.
These are all just suggestions and you may use your own choice of chemicals and lubricants to achieve your desired results. These are the methods used by us at CC Racing Engines that have worked the best for us.
Carlo Catalanotto